JK Rowling to pen Harry Potter spin-off film

JK Rowling is to make her screenwriting debut in a new Harry Potter-themed film series, Warner Bros has announced.The first film of the series will be titled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Warner Bros said the film series was part of an “expanded creative partnership” with the best-selling author.

Warner Bros will also handle the global distribution of the TV adaptation of Rowling’s novel The Casual Vacancy.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the name of a textbook, by Newt Scamander, that Harry Potter owns at Hogwarts School.

“Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for 17 years, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world,” said Rowling.

“The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, 70 years before Harry’s gets underway.”